ONE HIT WONDERLAND: "Never Had a Dream Come True" by S Club 7

It's time for "Pull me under" by Dream Theater, because it's actually their only hit :D

Alessandro Monopoli

Nice ;-)

Hey todd in the shadows. Review mack morrison return of the mack

Apparently I do remember this, because I started singing the chorus immediately. But I don't... remember learning it. But I did watch the hell out of the show.

Deanna Banana

I remember a couple other S Club songs, not necessarily this one. And I'm Canadian, so maybe we had different hits than you Yanks.

waywardlaser

S CLUUUUUUUUUUB [ain't no party like an S Club party]

waywardlaser

Never heard of this group, never heard this song.

Josh Liller

Very nice! Happy to finally be a patron of you, Todd.

I am so happy you're covering S Club - I as the perfect age to hate this band. I was about 11 when they got big.

JojoScotia

I remember watching the tv show when I was a kid but for some reason it never clicked in my head that they were an actual band, I just thought they were actors on a TV show.

Jane Altoids

I was absolutely shocked to hear that S Club is a one hit wonder in the US because i could have sworn then were unavoidable. But I also was really young and into radio disney.

K Wrede

You'd also be surprised about Victorious...

Josh Spicer

For what it's worth Todd, "Bring It All Back" was fairly commonplace in tone and style for a lot Disney or Nick musical acts in the late 90's, early 00's. Jonas Brothers and to some extent Naked Brothers Band really changed up the sound to match with the pop-rock/emo-pop style.

Josh Spicer

On the same level of "I'm Like a Bird" and "Upside Down" and every single Cascada song.

Josh Spicer

Truly a cult classic.

Josh Spicer

God bless you for that Bo Burnham reference.

Does anyone else think this melody was stolen for Elliot Yamin's "Wait For You"? Because that's what it sounds like.

Ultranatic Productions

HAPPY 75th OHW, Todd! You keep going strong with this project!

Ultranatic Productions

Hey, I really appreciate the way you seem to get other country's cultures. I don't know how you do your research, but you get how the UK music scene differs and I'll always remember how well you summarised and understood Australia's culture and political situation with the Midnight Oil episode.

CS Drennan

I was on a plane with Jo, Tina and Bradley recently. The three of them apparently went on a UK tour in clubs. I didn't talk to them at all but when I was behind them in the line and the line stopped, it took EVERYTHING in me not to say "Don't stop, never give up".

CS Drennan

I love the Victorious comment, because they absolutely did make that joke. (Not that exact joke obviously, but still.)

Christian Samples

That point about how none of the lyrics to "I want it that way" make any sense is blowing my mind

Joe Bush

I definitely remember this specific song and video playing on Disney channel back in the day. Don't know that's what broke the song through, or if Disney used it because of its popularity.

I didn’t know that they had an S Club Jr, but it doesn’t surpise me. It’s not uncommon for idol groups to pass on to younger singers when the old ones retire. The Belgian girl group K3 had a reality show a just few years ago to find their replacements. (I’m quite fond of both the original K3 and the new girls.) - Also, I do remember this song, but that’s probably because I was a sappy preteen girl when it hit big over here.

Sometimes bands are much more famous for reasons besides their radio singles. Even though Pink Floyd are like the polar opposite of S Club 7, they're sort of comparable in this regard because they're recognized for waaaaay more than just "Money" and "Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2". In S Club 7's case, Americans may have recognized "Bring It All Back", "S Club Party", "Reach", and "Don't Stop Movin'" from Radio Disney, their BBC show, or any other facet of media that didn't impact their success on the pop charts, but "Never Had a Dream Come True" was the song that fit radio playlists of mid-2001. Actually it's interesting, because despite S Club 7 being clearly marketed towards a young audience, "Never Had a Dream Come True" was on the Adult Contemporary charts in America for almost an entire year.

Jacqueline Sailer

We really need to get some 70s stuff in here or something. Black Betty or anything with a bit of grit to it... These one hitters from the 90s and early 00s are starting to hurt my soul a little but can't blame Todd for that. A deal is a deal...

This is weird to me. If you told me S Club 7 was a one hit wonder and asked me to name the hit I would have 100% said S Club Party. I didn't even LISTEN to pop music back then, but I knew that song. Never heard this one before

Orestria

There's also Dru Hill's "We're Not Making Love No More", which predates "Never Had a Dream Come True", unlike "Everytime We Touch", and is also an easy listening ballad.

Jacqueline Sailer

Lindsay already reviewed it. However, I am eagerly hoping for a Trainwreckords episode focusing on the Spice Girls' Forever album. That was actually my backup request in case Todd chose to veto "Never Had a Dream Come True".

Jacqueline Sailer

I was surprised you thought S Club 7 DID deserve better, though I was spot-on in predicting you wish they were more popular in America for something other than "Never Had a Dream Come True". Their level of success in Australia is probably closer to where you think they deserved to be here - nowhere near as big as in the UK, but still extremely successful for "Bring It All Back", "S Club Party", and "Don't Stop Movin'" in particular, with "Two in a Million" and "Reach" attaining minor success. Personally, I think the album they released as S Club (6) is particularly good, as it has easily the most layered and creative production of any of their records, although it's no less cheesy than any of their previous works.

Jacqueline Sailer

With seven members, it's difficult to cover everything. The racism scandal was a serious mess and difficult to dissect quickly, especially since the blame wasn't just directed at Jo.

Jacqueline Sailer

We're Stars by Hear n Aid was also pretty kick-ass

LifeIsStrange

For me Nirvana are cafeteria food, mostly bland and tasteless.

LifeIsStrange

You didn't mention the saddest part about Paul's post S-club 7 life, he actually had to sell some of his awards on Ebay to pay his bills. Also that controversy about Jo could be an entire video:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrity_Big_Brother_5_racism_controversy" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrity_Big_Brother_5_racism_controversy</a>

LifeIsStrange

S Club 7 are the epitome of manufactured cheese, and that's VERY much an acquired taste. I'm one of the few people who actually loves how bubbly and carefree they are - sometimes, you just need a bit of positivity in your life to offset the grind of reality - but at the same time, you are right that they aren't a group of edge. I myself can't forgive them for the "ghetto boys...hoochie mama's" bit in "S Club Party". Since they're talented, sincere singers and their productions are varied, I think they're a marked cut above the usual type of music you hear on the Disney Channel, which is comprised mostly of teens and tweens who sound soulless and frustrated (the Disney direct-to-video description of S Club 8 is spot-on). Still, their songs are more like freshly assembled candy with high levels of sugar, whereas bands like Roth-era Van Halen and Nirvana produced five-star gourmet meals.

Jacqueline Sailer

You're a bit wrong about Paul's nu-metal band Skua, they did actually reform later on the 2010s and released an EP and an album before splitting up again, they were actually pretty talented IMO.

LifeIsStrange

I thought Feel Inside by Flight of the Conchords was a good charity single, but I have a pretty substantial FotC bias.

Jacob Wick

I'd definitely love to see you review the Spice World trainwreck, I mean, film.

Gilbert Cortes

I think you're wrong about charity singles, Hear n Aid did a kickass one:<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7eqxg92YG0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7eqxg92YG0</a>

LifeIsStrange

I don't remember this group at all but they definitely played a few of these songs on radio disney when i was in the target audience for that. Eugh.

Crow

That Hanson joke made me laugh, sorry Todd but I never got what the big deal about them was.

LifeIsStrange

I quite like those Disney channel sitcoms as I grew up with them.

LifeIsStrange

This melody is from some other song, I just can't figure out what it is. It's like "Every Time We Touch" by Cascadia on a bunch of downers.

Specter Koen

Kind of disappointed he didn’t do the s club song but this is still cool

Curtis Charles